Satellite Downlink Jamming Propagation Measurements at Ku-Band

We analyze a downlink jamming scenario with a mobile jammer transmitting towards a highly directional satellite ground station dish antenna at Ku-band frequencies. We report about channel measurements between a small-scale mobile jammer and the ground station antenna, which was surrounded by buildings. The observed non-line-of-sight (NLOS) channel is characterized by numerous multipath signal components that can add up to a significant jamming power at the receiver input. Even though the jammer has been located inside a car and the highly directional antenna was pointing towards the sky at a high elevation angle, the measured path loss of the jamming signal as received by the ground station antenna was much lower than expected by common models. Our results demonstrate the sensitivity of satellite downlinks with respect to even portable or hidden jammers located at far distance from the earth station under attack.